Trenches, ditches, and holes are formed in the earth for numerous reasons. One of the primary purposes is to bury utilities or other services underground. Trenches or ditches are also used to transport water and other fluids. Landscaping is another reason for digging holes and/or trenches, as well as hidden fences for animals, wiring for cable television or internet. Drainage is yet another reason to dig a trench. Trenches are normally excavated utilizing one of two methods, by machine or by hand.
There are various types of mechanized devices for digging trenches. Trenchers are by far the most common piece of equipment that is utilized to dig a trench. One type of trencher is the walk behind trencher. This device is similar to a lawnmower in that it includes a small engine and the operator walks behind the device as the trench is cut into the earth with an elongated chain or wheel. Wheeled or ride-on trenches are also available. These devices are similar to the walk behind devices with the exception that the operator rides upon these devices as the chain or wheel creates the trench as the device moves across the land. Once work is completed, workers must backfill the trench by hand recovering as much soil as possible while the rest is lost to the grass where the soil was piled. A backhoe is another type of device that is utilized to dig a trench. The soil or earth is removed with a large bucket and is generally placed adjacent to the trenching area. Upon completion of the work in the trench or hole, the backhoe retrieves as much of the soil removed from the trench as possible and roughly places some of it back into the trench. However, a large portion of the soil is lost to the area where it was deposited, scarring the ground and leaving an unsightly mess.
When a trench or ditch is dug by hand, the area in which the soil removed from the trench can be placed is normally limited by the length of the shovel. Therefore, the soil removed from the trench is usually placed adjacent the trench. If the trench is dug through an area with groomed grass, it is difficult to return all of the soil removed from the trench back into the trench because the soil falls to the ground and intermingles with the grass. The soil removed from the trench will not be able to be completely returned to the trench and will present an unsightly problem on the groomed grass once the trench is refilled. In some instances, rakes or the like are utilized in an attempt to return the soil back into the trench. However, this requires additional tools and additional labor.
Thus, in order to recover as much soil as possible as well as minimize the mess after work has been completed, a tarp or piece of material, such as plywood, is often placed on the grass adjacent the trench. The soil removed from the trench or hole is then placed atop the tarp or piece of material. A shortcoming to this procedure is that the plywood and/or tarp becomes too heavy for movement or dumping of the soil back into the trench thereby still requiring the soil to be shoveled by hand from the tarp or material back into the trench. The tarp can then be removed from the grass. If any soil remains on the plywood or tarp, it can be poured back into the trench only after a suitable amount of the weight has been removed therefrom. In addition, tarps and/or plywood are difficult to manipulate for arrangement along the length of the trench as well as dumping. Still yet, plywood is cumbersome to move from one location to another and requires a controlled environment to prevent degradation thereof. Tarps are easier to move from one location to another; however, they are fragile for use in this type of environment and thus are not practical for extended or daily use. In addition, tarps must be cleaned after use, requiring them to be hanged for drying adding significant labor and cost.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a device or system for use in excavation and backfilling of soil. The device or system should be formed of relatively few component parts that are inexpensive to manufacture by conventional techniques. The device or system should be capable of being shipped or transported in a nested arrangement to minimize space requirements. In addition, the system must be modular and facilitate the creation of a variety of trench edgers that vary in length/size but which share common, interchangeable components. The trench edgers must also be capable of overlapping engagement with respect to an adjacent trench edger to create elongated edgers. Finally, there are ergonomic needs that a trench edger device/system must satisfy in order to achieve acceptance by the end user. The system must be easily and quickly assembled using minimal hardware and requiring a minimal number of tools. Further, the system must not require excessive strength to assemble or include heavy component parts. Moreover, the system must assemble together in such a way so as not to detract from the storage volume of the trench edger, or otherwise negatively affect the utility of the trench edger.